


The Marks we Make

by NightWings



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Fusion Golden Deer/Blue Lions route, Hanahaki/Soulmate Fusion, M/M, Mutual Pining, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Slow Burn, Some Live for plot reasons, TWSITD are SOBS and here's why, world building
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-26
Updated: 2020-03-26
Packaged: 2021-02-28 23:01:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,614
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23325163
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NightWings/pseuds/NightWings
Summary: Claude always enjoyed a good mystery. He enjoyed to figure out what made people tick, so getting his hands on something unheard of with a supposed history of people finding their soulmates? A physical representation of that through...some seeds? How could he not want to know more?
Relationships: Dimitri Alexandre Blaiddyd & Dedue Molinaro & Claude von Riegan, Dimitri Alexandre Blaiddyd/Claude von Riegan, Minor or Background Relationship(s), Other Relationship Tags to Be Added
Comments: 6
Kudos: 38





	The Marks we Make

“So anyone remember the running bet going on, ya know with what Lorenz is up lately?” Claude asked as he leaned back in his chair in the Golden Deer classroom, the day had barely started but their teacher Byleth was running a bit late, which was unusual. Ignatz said he had seen them doing some early morning fishing before realizing they were going to miss teaching their own class and had sprinted off to their room to grab their lesson plans, informing the green haired artist to inform the rest of the class.

Looking over at the empty desk in front of Igantz and Rapheal they were missing their resident purple haired Alliance Lord, which was unusual considering Lorenz made it a point to get into the classroom bright and early saying something like a Lord has to be punctual to make a good impression. Not that Claude would argue with that but the fact that he made it a point to try and get to the classroom before Claude in some sort of way to show he’s better was what was strange right now. Though he added that he thought he saw their professor being pulled aside, Jeralt discussed something with them as he held a paper in their hand looking a bit frustrated.

“You mean with him being a bit more obnoxious than usual?” Leonie huffed from her seat frowning as she was trying to go over her notes from the other day, looking over at Lysithea’s own notes to compare, wasn’t it for chore assignments?”

“I think it was between taking over someone’s turn for weeding for the next two weeks.” Ignatz spoke up as he flipped to another page on his notes, “uh buying snacks next free time or…”

“A whole month of my chore assignments!” chirped a perky voice from one of the corner desks.

The synchronized scoffs around the classroom had the owner of the voice pout.

“Hilda _**NO ONE**_ is taking that bet, even if you end up being right.” Lysthisa retorted as she was pointing to something and Leonie quickly scribbling it on the side of her notes, thanking the young mage,” I still say it’s something dumb.”

“That’s a given, I’m just wondering what he found that made him redouble his efforts in finding the perfect wife or partner.” Leonie grumbled tapping her desk, “I’ve seen him even ask the same girls he’s asked before like he’s expecting a different result for some reason.”

“Well whatever he’s doing it’s been going on for a while that, had even Sylvain stop by the other day asking if he knew what Lorenz was up to,” Claude yawned stretching out to grab one of his own books to read through before either Teach got in he briefly recalled something about a possible promotion exam that may of slipped his mind.

“I-I’m sure it can’t be that bad?” Ignatz’s unsure voice said as the others gave him pitying looks,” right?”

“Ignatz you’re a sweetie with that nice belief in others with good intentions but we all know how Lorenz is with his ideals of the perfect noble,” Hilda cooed, turning to look at the meek girl sitting next to her “right Marianne?”

“H-He has been by the stables a few times I’ve noticed…” the quiet blue haired girl murmured,” usually w-when others are assigned stable d-duties, t-talking to some of the girls from the other houses.”

“See! It has to be -something- if even dear Marianne noticed~” Hilda said charmingly giving the girl a sweet smile which flustered her making Marianne duck her head down, to cover the redness from spreading,” although I have noticed when I see him attempting to talk to some of the girl’s he pulls something out of his breast pocket and then puts it back before leaving.”

“Really?” Claude asked looking up from his book his curiosity peaked.

“I have seen him play with something similar during class when the professor is talking to us individually, “ Igantz piped up as he pulled out one of his sketchbooks and showed them something, “I got a brief look at it when I looked over at him, he had it out and going through some sort of book too.”

“Surprised the Professor hasn’t caught him not paying attention if he’s been looking at whatever it is during class,” Lysithea frowned, “usually they’re on top of making sure we’re paying attention **Claude**.”

The heir just shrugged and grinned, “The professor likes me plus they know I’ll never skimp out on an assignment.”

“Sure they do.” the white haired prodigy retorted before moving over to sit closer to Ignatz.

The rest of the Golden Deer clamored over to the young artist and they saw it was an intricate looking small satchel no bigger than a fully bloomed rose that easily fits in the palm of someone’s hands.

“Did you ever get a good look at what was inside?” Hilda asked as Igantz shook his head, “awww I wonder what-”

The door to the classroom slammed open and everyone swerved their heads expecting to see their professor who still hasn’t arrived? Instead it was said person they were talking about making his way to his seat, not paying attention to the others as his nose was buried in a book mumbling under his breath.

They could briefly hear angry muttering from the noble as he passed by, not noticing how everyone in the classroom was staring at him as he took his seat, looking more and more frustrated as he put the book roughly down on his desk furiously flipping through the pages.  
  
There were looks thrown between the others before they all turned to their leader who rolled his eyes, not surprised in the least, but curiosity needing to be sated he walked over to where Lorenz sat. Though he didn’t have to start the conversation as whatever seemed to be troubling the young Alliance noble heir had him speaking first by slamming the poor book on the desk wide open.

He looked positively baffled as he had one hand gripping his head while the other was turning the pages looking for something in the confines of its pages. They could tell that whatever he had been attempting wasn’t meeting his expectations and he wanted answers.

“I don't understand, I followed the instructions precisely as stated and nothing has been yielded from it!” Lorenz grounded out huffing, trying not to burst out in anger and ruin his noble image.

Taking this as his cue Claude made his presence known.

“So what exactly were you trying to do Lorenz? Gotta say it caught a lot of attention of the academy you know,” the dark haired leader said grinning when Lorenze looked up at him his eyes narrowed, “Come on if you tell us maybe we can help you with whatever has your stumped.”

“Yeah we are your friends you know!”Raphael spoke up in his loud boisterous voice from where he sat next to Ignatz who nodded as well.

“And maybe we can get him to take a step back too,” Leonie said under her breath as Raphel laughed loudly, “the other classes have been talking you know.”

Lorenz coughed and cleared his throat when he heard that having a taken back expression as he seemed to consider what everyone was saying as they had moved closer around his desk.

“My sincerest apologies I was merely trying a method that I thought would give me the best results and was merely testing it out, unfortunately it seems it was all for naught.” Lorenz replied sighing, “I had discovered this on my last trip back home to visit my father where I came across an interesting piece of text that was put away in the farthest part of my father’s library, it led me to find these as well.”

Lorenz produced the small satchel that Ignatz had sketched earlier, dropping it onto the desk where it made sound from whatever the object was on the inside. Reaching over Claude picked it up, whatever was inside seemed a bit heavy as he upturned it and blinked when he saw two rather odd looking plant seeds land in his palm. They were much larger than a normal seed and felt heavier, not to mention they could’ve passed for walnuts if it weren’t for the coloring being close to an off white alabaster.

“Uh…”

For once Claude was at a loss of words having never seen something like this, as he rolled them in his palm and held them close to his face trying to figure them out.

“What ARE those?” Lysithea asked frowning at the strange objects that had come out of the satchel, “those can’t be seeds.”

“Can you eat them?” Rapheal asked, wanting to reach out and try but Ignatz quickly pushed his wrist down, “bet they would go great in a dish!”

“Raphael I really don’t think that would be a good idea to consume them in any shape or form,” Igantz said patting his friend’s shoulder while giving the objects in Claude’s hand a wary look.

“I’ve planted plenty of seeds before and these look like nothing I’ve ever seen before.” Leonie added moving over to Claude’s shoulder poking the things as well, “and you found these locked away in your dad’s library?”

“Yes! I was suspicious about these as well but there was a book next to the box they were in and it had explained everything I’d need to know about them, they’re fascinating and VERY **RARE**.” Lorenz said as he looked at Claude and let out an indignant yell when he saw his house leader juggling the seeds in his hands nonchalantly as he was still trying to figure them out ,”My grandfather supposedly had bought these previously from a merchant long ago and was told they were one of a kind so kindly give them back!”

Scrambling over his desk to reach the house leader he takes back the seeds depositing them into the satchel and glaring at Claude who just returned Lorenz’s irritated look with a bemused grin, “as I was saying, these are apparently very rare seeds as they come from outside of Fódlan and the reason I was carrying them was because of this!”

He flipped a few pages back in the book he had slammed down earlier and showed them a picture that had everyone’s eyes widened and several mouths opened. They all crowded around Lorenz’s desk to get a better look at the page that surprised them.

The picture presented in front of them was like nothing they’ve ever seen before, it was a single plant but what had them staring was it wasn’t just one flower on said plant there seemed to be a large array of different types of flowers all growing together on the branches. Flowers you wouldn’t see together unless they were cut and put into a bouquet were growing naturally together.

“That’s impossible...how-!?”

“Are you sure that isn’t just made up!?”

“It’s so pretty though!”

“There has to be a downside to a plant like that…”

Lorenz got a smug look from his fellow Alliance classmates who were trying to talk over one another as they looked at the book.

“See this is what the seed is capable of!” Lorenz explained a superior air around him, “ you’re supposed to carry both seeds with you and when you meet the one both seeds are suppose to start growing, the seeds bloom together in a variety of flowers that represent them as they bond and get closer with one another, it’s a perfect way to discern those worthy of a courtship ”

Hilda’s eyes went starry eyed, a forever romantic.

“You mean like those tales of soulmates!?” She asked her fuschia colored eyes sparkling demanding to know more.

“Are you...for real? Soulmates?” Leonie asked not really one for believing in that kind of stuff.

“Uh...no offense Lorenz but even I have a hard time believing that, “ Ignatz said warily, “I’ve never heard of anything being sold like that with the merchants. Have you Ralphael?”

“Honestly no, and my sister is the one that handles the plants and herb stuff for sales with our parents.” Ralphael replied frowning as he tried to recall anything, “Sure your dad or family didn’t get tricked into something like that Lorenz?”

“There-there have been some books that relate soulmates similar to those of crests sometimes, but soulmates?” Marianne said quietly, as Hilda turned towards her making the poor blue haired girl flustered as she was bombarding the girl with what books she’s read those from, “I mean you can never be too sure about anything b-b-but still…”

“Aren’t those just made up tall tales for those romance books?” Lysithea added making a face at the thought of actual soulmates, “I know some people believe in that kinda stuff but even you Lorenz?”

“It’s similar but the sees are suppose to help you find the person you’re best suited for, soulmates or not these

“But it really is romantic don’t you think? Finding your one and being bonded by them with proof being on their skin or some sort of sign that connects the two of them?” Hilda said dreamily sighing happily as she settled next to Marianne who was still trying to recover from the sudden attention from the bubbly pink haired girl.

“I dunno, that seems kinda cagey being stuck with someone you might not even know or even like for that just because of one little symbol on your body,” Leonie said, folding her arms still not sure about the whole thing, “it sounds more like an arranged marriage instead honestly.”

“Aww Leonie where’s your sense of romanticism?” Hilda replied looking at the orange haired girl who gave the pink haired girl an apathetic look back.

“Out somewhere by the peak mountains by Fodan’s throat.”

“Oh come on you can’t say you have some myths or stories from your village that have some belief in those who could be connected.”

“There aren’t and I’m glad.”

“Booooooo that’s no fun!”

“Lorenz, how exactly are these supposed to work? It seems too easy to just have them in the mere presence of another person that you immediately find,” Lysithea asked, making a face as she finished her sentence, “...soulmates or partner…”

As Lorenz spins the tale of what the seeds were supposed to do, with the others listening, Claude takes the abandoned book flipping through the pages, his jade green eyes narrowing when he notices something that the other Alliance noble had missed. He slowly turned the next couple of pages comparing them, his expression remaining the same.

“And in addition to that-” Lorenz continued before Claude interrupted making the violet haired noble send him a withering look. Claude just waved the book in his hand while the other rested on his hip.

“Not that your storytelling isn’t brilliant and all Lorenz but I think I may of found out why the seeds haven’t been working for you,” Claude said making Lorenz’s eyes narrow at him, now that he had the attention of him and the rest of the room he flipped the book so it faced towards the violet haired heir. He pointed to something in the binding of the book, “This book does have some information but I think there was a reason your father, grandfather or whomever put the book in the library at your home away. It’s missing not just one but several pages.” tapping his finger on the inside spine of the book he continued, “it’s hard to miss but some of the binding of the book that keeps the pages together are frayed as if the pages have been torn out so that basically means you’re missing some probably important details like why this miracle seed hasn’t been working.”

_**“What!?”** _

Not wanting to be proven a fool or wrong he grabbed the book out of Claude’s hands and much to his dismay he found that the brunette was right. The spine of the book he saw when looking closely there was proof of the binding and adhesive coming undone and that it slightly frayed. Giving the book back to Claude he sighed grimacing at how foolish he had been relying on something that didn’t even have the full instructions.

“I knew that was too good to be true, of course they wouldn’t keep all the information like that.” Lysithea rolling her eyes huffing as she went back sitting at her desk.

“Aw sorry your family got tricked into something like that Lorenz,” Raphael said patting the noble’s back, even if it sent the other lurching forward the larger teen forgetting his strength.

“Thank you for your sympathy,” Lorenz sighed resting his head in his hands, “how could I be so foolish.”

Claude hummed seeing the downtrodden noble, it wasn’t that unusual for Lorenz to find some sort of method in his quest for the perfect partner to bring into his family but he couldn’t help but want to know more about these seeds. He wasn't one to just walk away from something this unknown. His mind was practically demanding him to figure these things out.

“Say Lorenz since these aren’t working out so great for you would you mind if I took them off your hands and any other stuff that came with it?” Claude asked, looking at the grumpy noble. Even if Lorenz said no he’d find a way to relieve Lorenz of the seeds he was so adamant on keeping a secret from everyone, “since ya know it wasn’t working no use letting it collect dust right?”

Chuffed as he glared at the book Claude held as if it had personally offended him, which probably in his opinion it had he relented easily, “Fine since it was long forgotten and my father hadn’t mentioned them at all, I can give them to you after class the sooner the better. I don’t even want to see those items again.” Lorenz grumbles as Claude looked ecstatic.

“Thanks Lorenz I’m more than happy to take them off your hands,” Claude replied quite eager as he pocketed the seeds and notebook.

Everyone scattered to their desks when the door opened once more and soon enough Byleth finally walked in with their arms full of paper and books, they headed straight for their desk dumping the lesson plans on top. Looking at the class with a blank stare who were waiting for an explanation all they said was,

“Quiz time, get ready,”

That sent those who were standing scrambling to their desks putting away their books as Byleth was getting the papers.

“Whaaaaat!? Since when were we going to have a test!?”

“Thank the goddess Lysithea let me read over her notes,”

“Least it’s not my proficiency exam,”

“Quiet you all have thirty minutes to finish this and then we have the training area for the rest of the class session, “ Byleth huffed as they sat down, rubbing their temples they added, “My father informed me about the training ground assignments, apparently someone had gotten them mixed up so we’re having a double session with the Blue Lions next week so that means no one is exempted, **Hilda**.”

“I felt faint one time.” Hilda pouted before going back to the quiz not wanting to have the professor's stare on them any longer. Didn’t stop her grumbling though.

“No more talking,” Byleth said tiredly as they were leaning back into their chair keeping an eye on their students, keeping a close eye on them as she pulled out some papers they needed to grade, ” be prepared for training we’re going to work on weapons you need more proficiency in or magic, I got a few ideas on how to work on authority but I need a few more materials for that.”

The classroom worked in silence with the scratching of writing utensils on the desks until Byleth had called for them that they had five minutes left and then the scratching became more frantic trying to finish the quiz in front of them then it wasn’t very long until their Professor was collecting the papers.

Once that was done they did a few lessons in the classroom going over what weapons and training they were going to do at the training grounds for the rest of class, ignoring the fact that they were late today. They stood in line as Byleth looked over the weapons to their notes and started to grab the weapons passing them to the Golden Deer students.

“Claude work on your swordsmanship,”  
  


“Dang, was hoping for the axe,”  
  


“Hilda you’re taking spear training today,”  
  


“Oh come on Professor!”  
  


“....You can poke someone and not get too close if you get good enough.”  
  


Ignoring the glint in their pinkette student’s eyes they continued passing weapons.  
  


“Leonie spear training with Hilda.”  
  


Leonie grinned as she took her spear from the Professor making Hilda whine louder.  
  


“Noooooo!! Professor why! I thought you liked meeeee!”  
  


“Raphael axe throwing training.”  
  


“You got it Professor!’  
  


“Lysithea and Marianne you two are training together in the other’s expertise, this should also help your authority training with instructing another,”  
  


“U-u-uh if you’re sure Professor….” Marianne stuttered as Lysithea grinned looking like she was going to enjoy this challenge.  
  


“I’ll do my best!” the small white haired child said determined.  
  


“Lorenz archery,”  
  


“I must protest Professor I feel I would do much better training in black magic I can assure you I have fire-”  
  


“Lorenz archery or I bring up the amount of anonymous notes I’ve gotten about a certain noble going around with the other teachers.”  
  


“I’ll take my bow now Professor.”  
  


“Which leaves Ignatz you’re going to be sword training with Claude, this’ll be good for you both as Claude needs work as well so you two can improve together.” Byleth said as they grabbed their own practice sword, “I’ll be surveying your progress and making adjustments as needed. Do your best.”

The Golden Deer moved to their designated areas making sure that they wouldn’t get in the way of each other, mostly away from Raphael’s axe throwing and Lysithea trying to help Marianna gather enough mana for a basic black magic spell.

As Ignatz and Claude moved to a corner of the training area the brown haired leader hummed tossing his practice sword in his hand.

“Say Ignatz can I ask you something?” Claude asked the artist, making him stumble a bit surprised nearly dropping his sword but saw him nod and continued, “could you see if anyone you know has any interesting botany books?”

“Is this about those seeds that Lorenz had?” Ignatz asked as he got in the stance the Professor showed them, Claude nodded taking a similar stance for a few seconds before he moved and started to attack the other. Byleth was keeping an eye on them as they helped Rapheal, instructing him a bit before they moved over to Hilda and Leonie as the orange haired girl was trying to get Hilda to hold the spear correctly as the pink haired girl was pouting.

“Yeah pretty sure Seteh would have probably taken away anything that involves outside of Fódlan since the books to the library are supposed to go through him, think if you find anything let me know?” Claude asked blocking a swing from Ignatz as the other looked a bit more steady in his footwork as he was trying to disarm Claude.

“Sure, that shouldn't be too hard.” Igantz said as he tried a lunge but Claude easily side-stepped him and hit his wrist with the blunt of the handle, “ow,”

“Nice try Ignatz, but I think you’re overextending your arm too much and forgetting your grip on the sword. Let's work on defending rather than any fancy moves alright?” Claude said mussing up green hair making his glasses go askew, Ignatz looked nervous but gave his leader a nod as he stood up straight readying his weapon.

Training continued with very few mishaps, though if you count near the end where Raphael had yelled loudly celebrating that he finally hit the bullseye but loud voice had frightened poor Marianne who finally managed a blizzard spell in her hands had flown out of her hands just brushing past Lysithea’s face as the terrified older girl ducked to the ground covering her head in fear apologizing. The blizzard spell hit Lorenz arms as he was taking aim at a different target not expecting the sudden weight his arms he released the arrow too soon falling forward and eating dirt, the arrow flew a bit unsteady but Leonie saw it coming and swung her lance making Hilda squeal and hide behind her as the arrow landed away from her.

“Well that’s one way to end a training session.” Claude couldn’t help but snicker as he walked over and gently tapped Marianne’s shoulder making the girl look up at him, holding a hand out to her “its alright Marianne it was just Ralph getting a bit too excited that’s all, come on up you go.”

Tentatively she took his hand as Claude surveyed the area, “think it’s been enough time for practice Teach?”

Byleth let out an amused chuckle as their lips twitched breaking into a fond sigh looking at their students.

“We can’t seem to have one training session without having at least one incident can we? This time it was three.” They replied walking over to Lorenz as Lysithea kept telling Lorenz she only could use dark magic and not black so she couldn’t melt the ice and that it was dangerous, “Lorenz we’ll head to Manuela to get your arms taken care of and don’t even try to use fire yourself with your arms like that. Does anyone else have any other injuries?”

There were various degrees of nos in reply.

“Alright you’re free for the rest of the day,” Byleth said dismissing them grabbing Lorenz by the upper arm of his uniform dragging him out of the training area.

“Dang guess I’m going to have to wait until Lorenz defrosts before I can get those notebooks of his,” Claude sighed knowing the noble would be up in arms if he even got a whiff of Claude attempting to break into his room...not that he could prove it, he took Ignatz’s sword from him putting it back on the racks “guess it’s the library for me.”

“Great! I have stuff I need to...take care of byeeee~” Hilda trilled quickly handing her spear to Leonie before skipping off out of the area.

“Annddd there she goes,” Leonie said shaking her head putting the weapons back as well, “I got some stuff to take care in a nearby village anyone want to come with me?”

“I’ll go, I want to check out.” Ignatz said, “Ralph wanna come too?”

“Sure! I could use a break! Count me in! Lysithea, I'll bring you back some sweets if they have any, okay?” Raphael said as the young girl turned red before storming off, “what’d I say?”

“Just get her a suuupper good cake and it’ll all be good,” Claude chuckled patting the confused boy’s arm, “I’ll see you guys later.”

The leader walked them out of the training area going their separate ways, he was at least thankful training wasn’t so bad that the seeds didn’t seem to be affected as did the notebook he got from Lorenz in class, the seeds seemed pretty durable if anything.

He slipped into the library lucky for him there weren’t that many students around so he was able to walk along the large ancient shelves trying to find any book that could have even a sliver of information so he could possibly figure out these seeds that Lorenz had somehow gotten. Grabbing a promising looking book on plants from the empire from a shelf he was browsing through trying to find some semblance relating to the seeds, unsurprisingly as he flipped through the pages there was nothing quite like the ones he had in the little satchel on him. Sighing in disappointment he put the book back and continued to try his luck browsing the shelves some more. As his fingers brushed some books that had looked to have some promise he paused when he heard whispered voices on the other side of the shelf.

_“Did you hear about the mess the Golden Deer made in the training area?”_

_“How could I not? Seeing one of them walk out with their arms encased in ice, that class is too unpredictable.”_

_“And their leader...coming out of nowhere…just in time to be declared an heir?”_

_“Right after Lord Riegen’s heir passed. Supposedly it wasn’t an ‘accident’ it happened.”_

_“And the sudden transfer into the school when no one has even heard an inkling about him.”_

_“Not to mention his looks...as ‘exotic’ as they are I wouldn’t trust him with leading a whole class, much less being the leader.”_

**_“Plus can you really trust someone like him?”_ **

He could hear them continuing on the same tirade he’s been hearing, heaving a quiet and exhausted sigh he would come back at a later time possibly when he could really have the privacy of the library alone at a later time. He found some books that might hold some merit and placed them on the table to be saved to read later, wanting to get out of the library away from the voices and clear his head. He let his feet just lead him off somewhere not realizing he was outside the gates until he looked around and found himself by the grassy hills overlooking the mountains the monastery stood by.

He closed his eyes, taking in a deep calming breath as he massaged his temples, trying to not let the frustration get the better of him. He was really hoping to get some studying done on those seeds but it was hard to work on something you had little to know idea on, Lorenz being the only one with the books he couldn’t get until later, plus some other students and their loud opinions.

“Just take a deep breath, and don’t think about it.” Claude said taking another breath in to calm his thoughts.

“You are doing the dreams of days are you not?”

Confused emerald eyes opened only to meet curious light sienna staring right back at him making Claude stumble back to get a better look. Petra tilted her head curious which probably would’ve been cute but it was just kinda awkward when she was hanging upside down from the low hanging branch on the tree he was apparently standing right next to.

“I think you mean daydreaming Petra,” Claude said once he realized it was just the Black Eagle’s student his body eased up as the girl made a noise of understanding as she righted herself and landed next to the Golden Deer leader, “What’re you doing out here anyway?”

“The day was favored in the good weather and I wished to enjoy it outside the school walls.” Petra replied smiling back, “Did you forget something in your thoughts?”

Claude chuckled, “No, I wasn’t lost in my thoughts, well maybe a little bit, but you’re right coming out here is nice outside the walls of the academy.”

Stretching his arms above him he sat down deciding to rest against the tree since he didn’t feel like going back inside the monastery anytime soon. He heard some shuffling next to him and saw Petra taking a seat next to him, the two sat in silence just enjoying the gentle breeze and silence together.

 _‘Alright so now that I can hear my own thoughts, I still know next to nothing about these miracle seeds I got from Lorenz, and I still need to get the other stuff that he brought with him to the Academy from his place.’_ Claude thought as he reached into his uniform to pull out the notebook he had acquired from Lorenz.

A forlorn sigh broke Claude from his thoughts making him turn and look at the Brigid princess. Her light sienna eyes were staring at the treetops as if she was looking for something before they turned downward towards Claude’s own green.

“If I am to being honest, there was another reason I came out here, being out here with nothing but Mother Nature around is very pleasant and I miss doing simple things like this back home,” Petra said quietly as she leaned back against the tree catching Claude’s attention, a small sad smile on her face “Brigid has many forests, I would enjoy much climbing to the tops and seeing an ocean of green around me and blue in the distance, the ocean so wide and vast shining like crystals off the sunlight.”

“The ocean at Derdriu was always pleasant to look out as well, the ships coming in with their great sails you could see in the distance, the goods being brought into the ports, exotic foods, spices, traders getting their wares making deals to get the best products first,” Claude replied as Petra eyes lit up, “ There are forests in the Alliance but there plenty of fields nearby, an ocean of colors sometimes when it was time of The Great Tree moon when they first start blooming.”

“Oh! That is sounding wonderful, in Brigid we would have a celebration of flowers! It is to celebrate the incoming spring for a good year! Flowers would be made into statues by artists of my home to show off their beauty, even a great mural of flowers would be made which all of us would participate in! The outfits were very bright and colorful as we danced! ” Petra said excitedly, “my favorite part is the battle at the end!”

Claude could practically see the excited sparkle in the girl’s eyes as she looked like she was remembering her home warmly, but the thought that he couldn’t help but think, _‘How do you have a battle with flowers?’_

“B-battle? At a flower festival?” Claude asked, wondering if he heard the girl right, but Petra was smiling so happily as she continued speaking of Brigid.

“Yes! We would take much time grinding and making powder from dried flowers and putting them in a special casing that breaks upon the throwing!” Petra explained grinning and even started to motion with her hands to emphasize how intense the fighting could get , “we end up being much colorful afterwards it is a fun time for anyone! We would laugh and see how many colors we had!”

Claude couldn’t help but chuckle in Petra’s enthusiasm as it seemed contagious.

“That does sound like fun, especially throwing colors at each other, think you can teach me how to make that? Sounds like something interesting,” Claude asked, having some fun ideas he could do with exploding colored power available, then something seemed to occur to him,” Say Petra does Brigid have flowers you don’t see around here? I’m sure there are similar flora but have you seen any seeds like these?”

Claude pulled out the small satchel that had the seeds and showed them to Petra.

“Most curious, there are flowers that appear uncommonly in Brigid and I have assisted my family with planting but apologies Claude I have not seen anything like this.” Petra said, returning the seeds to Claude, “where did you acquire them?”

“Ah Lorenz was trying something with them, didn’t work and let me have them.” Claude replied simply, before he sighed and looked at the dark orchid hair colored princess, “he didn’t say anything odd to you did he?”

“The purple haired one with the rose on his uniform? He did speak to me but I did not understand what he was asking,” Petra replied frowning, “does he speak like that always?”

“Ehhh more or less, that’s just the way he is, thanks for the insight though Petra I’m gonna head back and see if good ol’ Lorenz is defrosted so I can get some books he promised to let me have.” Claude said standing up and held up his hand out to Petra giving her a smile, “may I walk you back? I’d enjoy hearing more about these festivals from Brigid.”

“I would be most happy to tell you more about Brigid! Does Derdriu have celebrations of days?” Petra asked as they headed back to the monastery.

“Maybe not as intricate as yours but we have a few,” Claude replied, easily enjoying talking with Petra as they headed back inside.

The two were chatting even once they were back in the courtyard of the monastery talking animatedly with each other until a voice called out to Petra.

“Petra sweetie!”

Both turned to see Dorothea waving as she walked up to them.

“Hello Dorothea, what can I be helping you with?” Petra asked, making the taller girl clap her hands excited.

“I wanted to do something for you since you’re so far from home and I looked around and I managed to find a few recipes from Brigid!” Dorothea said, sounding quite proud of herself,” I know they probably don’t have the _exact_ same ingredients but I figure if we can get similar ingredients it should work!”

Claude had to turn his head and cough to hide the laugh that was bubbling when he saw Petra looking a bit uneasy about the other girl’s cooking as nice of a gesture as it sounded.

“You...really do not need to be doing that Dorothea, I am feeling alright being in the academy.” Petra replied, “it is very kind of you, it is the thinking that counts. But your cooking uhm what is the word….horrendous. That is what everyone is saying anyway.”

Now Claude couldn’t catch himself and had to cover his mouth to cover the laughter that was threatening to spill from him, though his shoulders were shaking in obvious amusement.

“H-horrendous? I don’t think anyone’s cooking could be that bad a-anyway I just wanted to do something to help you feel comfortable here that’s all.” Dorothea replied, “I don’t want you to be afraid to ask for help or anything okay?”

“That is the kindness from you but I am doing fine,” Petra replied smiling at the other girl who sighed at her rebuffed offer, “Claude and I have been doing much talking, it has been very enjoyable!”

“He has huh?” Dorothea said as Claude just gave her an easy going grin, seeing that Petra was pretty happy right she sighed “well come find me if you need anything, I’m happy to help.”

“Well that was amusing, is her cooking really that bad?” Claude asked once Dorothea was out of earshot.

“I have been hearing many...incidents of Dorothea’s cooking.” Petra replied sighing with a bit of relieved look, “It was much fun talking to you about Brigid, may we do so again?”

“Sure, I wouldn’t mind another chat or two again. Next time I’d like to know more about that colored powder.” Claude said, waving to her as Petra headed off to do some studying herself as he headed to the dorms hopefully to see a certain purple haired noble that was thankfully back in his room by this time.

He didn’t even need to say anything as he barely knocked on the door and he suddenly shoved a books and papers into his arms, taking Claude by surprise.

“So this is everything?” Claude asked, adjusting his grip on the books and trying not to lose the papers.

“Yes now please either burn them or something just get them out of my sight.” Lorenz grumbled, shutting the door quite hard.

“Well his loss is my gain at least,” Claude said rather eager to look at the notes and get somewhat of an idea on what the seeds could do. He quickly went to his own dorm to drop off the items, go to the mess hall to grab some food and finally be able to sit down and get some studying done on these ‘rare’ and ‘exotic’ seeds he got his hands on.

______________________________________________________________

“Looks like that took longer than I thought,” Claude yawned, noticing his candle was nearly out as it sunk lower on the candlestick. Glancing out the window he could see he’d been writing and working to decipher the seeds for a while as the sun had long set and the sky was dark filled with stars. Pushing his chair back he leaned back and stretched deciding now was a good time as ever to take a break so deciding to try his luck in the library now that it should be easy enough for him to sneak in and look at those books again.

Blowing out the remnants of his candle he picked up one of the books Lorenz had given him deciding to bring it along for reference. Peeking out of his door he didn’t see any of the knights patrolling and quietly snuck out heading to the vast library that the monastery offered to the staff and students.

Claude was frustrated, despite the books and notes he had gotten from Lorenz he felt he wasn’t any closer to figuring out the seeds. The books had some ideas on how they worked but there wasn’t really any concrete evidence just mostly drawings and sketches from the writer, from what he had gathered it seemed that Lorenz’s grandfather hadn’t been successful either in getting the seeds to bloom as the book had said they would. There was also the case of the missing pages so he didn’t know what those missing pages entailed so he’d just have to do his best to figure those out on his own. He knew a few things, the shells of the seeds were pretty solid none of his tools could open the seed up and didn’t want to accidentally ruin one since he only had two so he had to be careful this time around. He tried a few concoctions of his own mixture to see if the seeds had any reaction to them but nothing seemed to affect it which was a good and bad thing in his opinion.

Entering the library quietly he grabbed the books he had saved earlier in the day and looked for a table that was out of sight in case someone came to check the library when he noticed an already burning candlelight, curious as to who was here already he looked around the back tables and saw familiar blonde locks belonging to the Prince. Not one to waste an opportunity he made his presence known by tapping his shoulder jolting the fair haired prince from book to turn and look at him.

“Evening your princliness, doing some late night studying as well?” Claude asked, smiling as Dimitri sighed holding a hand to his chest probably not expecting anyone else to be in the library this late.

“I should ask you the same thing,” Dimitri replied sighing, looking relieved watching as Claude sat down next to him, “ I didn’t see you at the mess hall for dinner caught up on your own research again?”

“Something like that, but sweet of you to notice I wasn’t there, your princliness~” Claude grinned, smiling at Dimitri, “worried about me?”

“I...had heard about some mishaps in the training area when Felix and I went there to train after you and your Golden Deer had finished training. I was just concerned that’s all. You all were okay?”

“Well besides Lorenz getting on the wrong side of a blizzard spell we’re fine, thanks for your concern about your highness.” Claude replied but saw the noticeable wince when he said that, “don’t like that title?”

“I wish to be seen as an equal to others, which is a tad difficult given that everyone insists on using my title,” Dimitri said tiredly as if he’s had this conversation one too many times. Claude hummed a bit to himself, he had noticed when passing by that most of the prince’s classmates, even those that he supposedly grew up with, referred to him with his title.

Getting a sly grin on his face he sidled up to the blonde prince and leaned against him making Dimitri look at him almost wary knowing that mischievous look was the prelude of something...usually the result of a prank or teasing on Claude’s part. It was the latter.

“Sooo you wouldn’t mind if I called you Dimitri or Dima, Dimi~” Claude teased grinning when he saw the adorable flush on pale cheeks, Dimitri not expecting for the other house leader to suddenly try and find a diminutive to his name, the tinge of pink highlighted by the candlelight flickering between them.

“D-Dimitri is fine Claude you don’t have to go that far,” The Prince replied looking quite flustered as he tried to busy himself with his book and Claude couldn’t help but grin wider feeling pleased at finding nicknames to tease the Prince with,”a-anyway Claude what has you up this late?”

“Oh nothing much just got some interesting items from one of my fellow classmate,” Claude replied as he brought out the seeds and dumped them into his palm showing them off to the prince, “see I’ve been trying to figure out these seeds since all I know is they’re not usually found in here.”

Curious Dimitri reached over and brushed his fingers over them, before taking one delicately in his hand, which was fair given that the prince was known to accidentally break things unintentionally. Though he gave a small squeeze he was surprised when there wasn’t a crack and the seed didn’t shatter.

Dimitri looked at Claude as the Golden Deer leader seemed just as surprised as he was that the seed didn’t show any sign of damage or shattering. Claude mentally took note of that since if the seeds could take Dimitri’s strength even if he wasn’t trying that was still pretty strong.

“Most curious,” the blonde prince said, examining the seed closer in awe.

“I know your home is all ice and snow but would these look familiar to you?” Claude asked as Dimitri turn to look at him as he rolled the other seed in his own hand, “I asked Petra and she didn’t seem to have any idea either.”

“Apologies Claude but I’m afraid I’m not very good with flora and the seeds they come from. I wouldn’t know if these are common in my homeland much less anywhere else,” Dimitri replied frowning, “they are rather interesting looking.”

“Right? I referenced some books I borrowed and so far nothing comes close to these, it’s a real mystery that I really want to solve,” Claude replied grinning excitedly, making Dimitri look at him with an almost fond smile.

“If anyone can figure these out I’m sure you’re the one with enough stubbornness and determination to do so.” Dimitri stated making Claude feel his face warm a bit at the blonde prince’s honesty.

“Now who’s laying on the compliments your princliness,” Claude coughed as Dimitri chuckled, handing the odd seed back to him, “anyway what’s on your agenda tonight?”

“Ah, nothing much just looking at some old texts for a paper.” Dimitri replied though rather evasively, usually Claude would poke more to find out more but he was feeling pretty satisfied getting a nice tease out of Dimitri with his name so he held back, “though if you wouldn’t mind the help, I’d like to help you with your research, I’m rather curious about those as well and I must admit seem more interesting to read than some old history text.”

“Well I’m not opposed to any help if you’re offering,” Claude said brightly as he moved his chair closer so they could share the books that he had gathered earlier, and started to point out to the prince where he started in the afternoon and his own notes.

Two of them read late into the night and until both of them were a yawning mess they both figured it was time to head back to their dorms as the candle had long been extinguished. Making sure they didn’t leave a mess behind they left the library and took their time getting back to the dorms since Claude grumbled a bit at having no luck in progress.

Dimitri looked over at Claude and made a bit of small talk to try and get Claude distracted from the lack of progress of tonight.

“It’s only the first night I’m sure you just need some rest to figure out another way Claude, besides skipping dinner probably didn’t help you either.” Dimitri added as Claude shrugged but was smiling at the young Prince.

Claude thought that was a sweet attempt and decided to just enjoy their time together.

“Even with the two of us we still couldn’t find anything on these things,” Claude sighed, “a whole library and little to nothing on them.”

“To be honest, if they originated outside of Fódlon I don’t believe there would be many texts on them,” Dimitri added looking thoughtful, “I’m afraid the library can only have so much information that aren’t personal documents.”

“Yeah I figured but I thought I’d try anyway,” Claude replied, folding his arms as he tried to think of another angle to figure this mystery out.

“Oh, why not ask Dedue?” Dimitri suggested making Claude looked at the smiling prince wondering where he was going with that thought, “Dedue is very good with plants he enjoys taking care of them and is usually seen in the greenhouse when we don’t have any duties to perform you might have better luck with him. I’m sure if he hears of your interest in plants he’ll assist you.”

Claude's eyes widened and realized Dimitri was right, Dedue was usually seen either tending to plants around the monastery and stopping the prince next to him from eating certain plants as well during chores. He would be a good person to ask about some strange seeds he has no idea about.

“Hey that is an idea I’ll take you up on that, your Princliness thanks!” Claude said excitedly, “sweet dreams and I’ll let you know how it works out!”

Claude missed Dimitri’s face and suddenly turned slightly pink at the last part as the Golden Deer leader entered his dorm room shutting the door behind him, leaving said Prince flustered once more before he entered his own room.

 _‘Huh never would’ve thought of asking his highness’s bodyguard but that would make sense. Dedue does spend his available time tending in the green house and he does technically come from an area near Fargheus,’_ Claude thought as he changed into his nightwear, his mind thinking of new possibilities tomorrow for his research...after classes of course.

Excited at the prospect of a possible lead tomorrow he made sure to place the seeds carefully on his desk going to bed rather happily even though he had hit a wall with his research for now.

_‘Heh maybe if I do manage to figure out these seeds I’ll let give his princliness the first flower,’_

Claude slowly drifted off to sleep, chuckling at the thought of not noticing the seeds he had placed on his desk resting on the pouch they had come in, he didn’t notice one of the seeds looked like it was shaking. It shook for a few seconds, the alabaster color slowly disappearing but not completely the hue was barely noticeable but had a bit of a yellow hue to it.

**Author's Note:**

> Originally this was going to be a short Hanahaki story but after getting writer's block and talking a bit with my friend and Alpha/Beta reader @TrinketElysium who is a godsend in tossing ideas back and forth, helping me develop this story much deeper than originally intended. Also the DimiClaude tags on twitter helped a lot for inspiration for the fusion of Hanahaki and soulmates.


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